The Old Utica Powerhouse

The Old Utica Powerhouse. U.G.M.C.. , The Utica Gold Mining Company (UGM.C) of Angels Camp was formed in the 1850’s. By the early 1880's they consolidated the Madison Gold Cliff stickles and other Angels Camp mines. This extensive holding combined with their purchase of the Union Water Company and its ore reserves made the U.G.M.C. the most powerful entity in Calaveras County , By 1895 the company needed to become more productive and decided to embrace hydroelectricity to operate its mines. The old Utica Powerhouse was built in 1899 by the U.G.M.C. to provide electricity to the Utica and other mines in Angels Camp and Murphys. They built this three story powerhouse on Angels Creek constructed of rhyolite tuff blocks 50 feet long 39 feet wide with walls three feet thick. When constructed, the powerhouse was located on the original Ebbetts Pass Highway now known as Utica Powerhouse Road. , Water was brought through a series of ditches and flumes from as far away as Lake Alpine at the top of Ebbetts Pass to a forebay reservoir above the powerhouse the water then ran through a penstock downhill and into the powerhouse. Power was produced by the combination of a huge pelton wheel and westinghouse generator. A second generator was added in 1902. The powerhouse not only serviced the mines but also local businesses and residences until it was decommissioned in 1952. It was replaced by the new electrical plant downstream , For fifty years the building sat abandoned and became vandalized in 2003. The powerhouse was purchased and transformed into a home by Grant Armstrong and Martin Huberty, Dedicated by E Clampus Vitus , Matuca Chapter 1849 september 23, 2023/6028 , Credo Quia Absurdum ,